Real Estate Secrets, Dangers and Dirty Tricks that Cost You Money. Exposed by 20 year Realtor and Author

A close friend stopped by our house and excitedly introduced us to PTK.

Better focus, energy, fat loss, mood and sleep were some of the benefits he was personally enjoying. Of course I want that, who doesn’t?

My Mistake: I thought it would be for people who wanted to lose fat and had extra money in their budget.

Wrong.

PTK – Pure Therapeutic Ketones were developed for elite US military forces to get them into a peak performance state within hours so they could quickly respond to missions. They weren’t trying to lose weight – they needed better focus and energy to perform at their best.

So this is for anyone who wants peak performance at work and in life.

Cost:

Pure Therapeutic Ketones are not cheap, although there are plenty of cheap knock offs on the market. Pruvit owns the patent to the real thing, and that is protected by law.

Two servings of PTK knocked out my cravings for sweets and chocolate.

Cha Ching. I’m now saving money on snacks.

Friends of ours are already saving on groceries and restaurants because cravings for expensive junk food are being eliminated. Folks are just rearranging their grocery budget and buying PTK instead of garbage.

Better health also leads to long term cost benefits.

Good health is an investment, not an expense.

Of course there is an income opportunity here. But you can also get your PTK at a discount, or even free, just as a customer.

Watch this 3 minute video to learn more about ketones and ketosis. As more research comes out, this is becoming more and more popular. PTK allows us to jump start ketosis and begin reaping the benefits weeks before we would see results just by changing our eating habits.

No one has said this to me yet, but I suspect cigarettes could also be a cost savings. Everyone knows ex-smokers tend to gain weight. Eliminating the downside of quitting and improving health and finances could be a benefit to those who want to quit without the weight gain.

Watch this 3 minute video and let me know what you like best about it.

The ad was captivating. It grabbed your attention and pulled you in, but don’t fall for it.

There are several reasons people go to Zillow, but here is proof that you shouldn’t make any important decisions based on what you find there.

Buyers are looking for homes

Sellers are confirming the value for a list price

Buyers are confirming the value before making an offer

Folks are “checking out” a potential real estate agent

Pictures, maps, neighborhood info

The dirty low down:

Number 5 is easy: Zillow harvests photos and data from numerous sources and provides it for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy it. Even if the photos are not current, you aren’t going to make too big of a mistake just from looking at them.

Number 1 is also easy: Not everything you see on Zillow is actually available for sale. There are dozens of reasons why properties are shown when they aren’t for sale. This company exists solely to lure viewers and collect information to sell to real estate agents. The data doesn’t have to be accurate; it just has to be attractive.

Number 4 can be a real problem. It’s a problem for the buyers and sellers, and also for the real estate agents. I sell two or three times as much real estate as the average agent, but you can’t tell that from looking at Zillow. They say that I have not sold anything in the last 17 months. https://jimsweat.wordpress.com/2018/09/20/really-zillow-again/

Yes, I can go in and manually update it, but that doesn’t mean it will be accurate next week. Here today, gone tomorrow is reality with these guys.

They were happy to use my photos, my descriptions and marketing remarks on my listings they used as “bait” to attract potential buyer and seller leads, but when those homes sold, Zillow conveniently “forgot” to credit me with the sale.

Blog post January 16, 2015 titled Real Estate Misinformation and Extortion tells how after 20 years in real estate, Zillow showed me completing 2 (two) total transactions. Two. After I had been a full time licensed real estate professional for twenty years! I had owned a real estate company part of that time. I had obtained my ABR, CRS, GRI, CDPE, e-PRO and ILHM designations – many of which require a certain level of production to qualify. But the big gorilla of real estate information credited me with two sales!

My blog post Boom! Yes That Was My Head Exploding! from August 6, 2015 tells when I found out Trulia and Zillow wiped my slate, again. After over 20 years as a full-time licensed real estate professional, part of which I was broker/owner of a real estate company, Trulia credited me with 1 (one) total career sale and Zillow showed me having 2 (two) sales in my entire career!

You don’t have to make things up, they prove every day that danger lurks if you blindly follow.

The thing to remember is that Zillow exists purely to make money from real estate brokers. If they have decent information on the website, great. If not, it doesn’t matter as long as they can lure people there, collect the contact info, and sell them to an agent.

There are thousands of companies that do the same thing: provide real estate information for the sole purpose of collecting leads to sell to real estate agents. Zillow just happens to be the biggest, and therefore can do the most damage.

Zillow has some great ads: A wonderful mix of emotional heart-tugs and perceived factual data.

Too bad people make important life decisions based on the fake news and false information.

Millions of people go to this website every month. They’re looking at listings, checking values and enjoying pictures.

Let me warn you, again, DO NOT make any important decisions based on the information you find there!

This company exists solely to attract viewers and collect information to sell to real estate agents. The data doesn’t have to be good, it just has to be attractive.

Notice how many places on the screen grab offer me the opportunity to spend money with them: Advertise; Advertising; Promote Yourself on Zillow. Clickable links all over that page for one purpose only.

This week I noticed my Zillow profile says I have had no sales in the last 12 months. The last sale they show was 17 months ago. I periodically look at my profile to see if it is up to date, and rarely is it.

Strange, because Zillow has no problem pulling my photos (either that I personally took or paid a photographer for), my marketing remarks and the data I enter into the Multiple Listing System (MLS). They even show me as the listing agent on my listings during the listing period (that is the main thing I check when a property is listed).

So why do they have such a problem crediting me when the property sells? They have access to the information. Why is it a constant battle with them to get correct information? My theory is that I am not a willing victim to their money squeeze, so they punish me (and tens of thousands of other agents).

My blog post Boom! Yes That Was My Head Exploding! from August 6, 2015 tells when I found out Trulia and Zillow wiped my slate, again. After over 20 years as a full-time licensed real estate professional, part of which I was broker/owner of a real estate company, Trulia credited me with 1 (one) total career sale and Zillow showed me having 2 (two) sales in my entire career!

Blog post January 16, 2015 titled Real Estate Misinformation and Extortion details some back ground on these companies that don’t really care about accurate data, all they really want are eyeballs looking at their site.

Do not make any major decisions based on an online, automated home valuation. You could lose a lot of money. A lot.

How does a $60,000 loss on a $300,000 home sound to you? Ridiculous? Read on.

Of course you are going to look up the value before you make an offer on a home, or prior to selling your current place. Just remember, that number is almost guaranteed to be wrong.

If you make life-changing decisions based on bad information, then you’re jeopardizing your future.

How can I be so sure the information you get online isn’t correct? Because it is statistically unlikely, and most of the sites will even tell you so, in the fine print.

Does it matter which site you use? Not really. Some are better at guessing than others, but they all vary dramatically.

When determining value on a property I typically check ten different online valuation sites. Not because I think they “know” what the home is worth, but because the seller and potential buyers are checking these sites, and it’s better to know in advance what disinformation they are consuming.

Those values are all over the map!

For example, a home with a true market value of $300,000 might have automated valuations ranging from 225,000 to 375,000. That is a large margin of error!

What about the infamous Zillow Zestimate? This is the margin of error stated on their website as of July 26, 2018:

Nationwide, Zestimates are currently within 5% of the final sale price 52.9% of the time.

In the U.S. as a whole, Zestimates are currently within 10% of the final sale price 73.3% of the time.

Nationally, Zestimates are currently within 20% of the final sale price 85.8% of the time.

Let’s put this into real world numbers using the $300k actual value example.

Just over half of the time (52.9%) the Zestimate is within $15,000 (5%) of actual final sales price. That could be high or low, so a $30,000 swing from 285,000 to 315,000.

The Zestimate is within 10% on another 20.4% of homes. That means a $60,000 swing from 270,000 to 330,000. If the buyer believes the real value is 270,000 and the seller thinks it is 330,000… well it’s easy to see we now have a significant problem.

Another 12.5% of homes are within 20%. That produces a $120,000 range of value from 240,000 to 360,000! That is 40% of the actual value! You don’t want to make any decisions based on this information!

Zillow admits they are not even within 20% (high or low) on 14.2% of homes nationally.

Do you want to guess which group your Zestimate falls within? It’s a roll of the dice!

If you’re in the 52.9% group you could lose $15,000.

If you’re in the 20.4% group you could lose $30,000.

If you’re in the 12.5% group you could lose $60,000.

If you’re in the 14.2% group you could lose even more than that!

The last two groups comprise 26.7% of properties. That means you have a greater than 1 in 4 chance oflosing $60,000 or more if you base your buying or selling decision on the information you obtained from the big gorilla of real estate data online.

This is a multi-billion dollar company that draws millions of people to the website each and every month. And I have the nerve to warn you against believing what you see in black and white on that website? Yes. That website and dozens of others. Pay attention.

The actual Zestimate, not the range of possibility, the actual published number on my personal residence has gone up and down over the last year $59,000. That is absurd. Home values don’t rise and fall with the wind, like the stock market.

Side note: Facebook stock is down 20% today. Your home doesn’t go on a roller coaster ride every month.

These robot valuations use raw sales data available from public records but they have a huge disadvantage: They have never been inside your home.

They don’t know if the flooring, kitchen cabinets and roof all need replaced, or if they were just completely updated. They can’t see the view; they don’t know if the comparative sales were well cared for or not; they can’t tell if the home next door is an eyesore or worse; they can’t hear the traffic from the highway that decreased the selling price on three of the comparable sales they are using.

The bottom line is you need a trustworthy professional to give you good information.

Contact a full-time, experienced and knowledgeable professional whom you trust to give you good advice so you can make the best decision for your family.

Sell in Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall? Pros and Cons to One and All!

Skeptical Seller: Fall is the quietest season. Families aren’t travelling because the kids are in school. Snowbirds are still home; no good reason to be on the market in the fall, right?

Jim Sweat: You are correct that fall is the quietest tourist season. That means there are not as many showings for people who are just in town and bored. It is a great time to be available for serious buyers who want to have time to find, negotiate and close on their new home soon enough to be ready to occupy it during the snowbird tourist season. I currently have several buyers who are planning on finding their new home this fall.

Skeptical Seller: That’s nice, but I know that winter is our peak tourist season. It only makes sense for me to be on the market during the winter and then take it off if it doesn’t sell. 90 days or nothing.

Jim Sweat: Yes, winter is peak Season. You will have the most showings during the winter months because of it. Sometimes showings will be scheduled just because it isn’t a perfect beach day and tourists are curious about the town. A Realtor can be a great tour guide. You also have the most competition during peak Season. There may be more potential buyers, but there are definitely more homes for them to choose from. How are you going to make yours stand out in the most crowded field of the year?

Skeptical Seller: The snowbirds go back north in the spring, and spring breakers aren’t buying houses, so what’s the point of being on the market in the spring?

Jim Sweat: There are a number of sophisticated buyers who purposely wait until Season is over before they make offers on homes. They look while they are here during vacation, then go home and wait until sellers feel desperate. The sellers who think “90 or nothing” may be more flexible when the peak 90 days have passed. You also have some sellers taking homes off the market “after Season” so those buyers have fewer homes to choose from. It may be wise to have yours available.

Skeptical Seller: Okay, I can understand that. However, there can’t be any good reason to be on the market during the dog days of summer when it is hot out and rains almost every afternoon. Who is looking at homes during the worst months of the year?

Jim Sweat: Only the serious buyers look during the off season. It’s not the most pleasant time. They aren’t just here on vacation with nothing else to do. Many of the buyers who are looking during the summer have scheduled trips specifically to find a home. This gives them time to find, buy, and renovate before peak vacation season hits. You also have the least competition. Many sellers take their home off the market during the off season because they feel it is a lost cause. If the serious buyers are looking then, don’t you want them to find yours?

We had similar situations – but reversed seasons – when I was in Michigan. Some sellers didn’t want their home on the market during the winter months. “Just wait until summer when all of the tourists are in town.” My response: Only serious buyers are trudging through three feet of snow to look at houses. Do you want to clean your house for someone who is that serious, or for a never-ending parade of bored looky-loos who are on vacation and may or may not be that serious about actually buying a home?

Remember this: the majority of homes do not sell during their first listing period. The season you list may not be the season you sell. My personal track record is strong, but it defies the averages.

There are more important factors than the time of year. “35 Home Selling Mistakes to Avoid” is an excerpt from the book I am currently writing. Wrong time of year is not one of the 35 reasons.

Bottom line: there are pros and cons to every time of year. You should work with an experienced, full-time, licensed real estate professional that can help you make the most of whatever season fits the timing in your life.

Why are there so many bonuses being offered right now, and what does it mean for the market?

Some of the listings were taken with a discounted commission and the bonus is just getting the compensation back up where it is competitive. Sellers want to turn up the excitement, not turn off their prospects. Cutting corners is not a great strategy if you are serious about selling.

Even some of the bank owned homes are offering bonuses. That may also fit into the compensation-adjusting group. When the investors started gobbling up anything that said foreclosure, many banks cut commissions at a time when multiple offers were piling in overnight.

It is easy to imagine agents getting pretty excited at the prospect of earning a bonus on a sale. However I am cognizant of the bonus frenzy we had during the market crash.

The incentives were getting extreme back then. There were even offers of a Mercedes as a bonus, on numerous properties. Anything to stand out and get attention for one property over the others.

Please, don’t misunderstand me. I am not implying we are in a crashing market scenario. We are not, at least not in our area. Sales are brisk and demand is strong in most segments of the market.

There are a couple of areas with softening: The high end luxury home market is temperamental, as it is wont to be from time to time. Some of the buyers just seem willing to take a step back from the rising prices and hold out for a better deal. Others, of course, are participating in sales that are setting new records!

The resale homes that are in price ranges that compete with new construction are suffering the most right now. New home sales are smoking hot. The “used homes” are having to price very attractively to garner attention from buyers. Some of our historically popular neighborhoods are seeing price reductions and bonuses to compete with new construction.

Many folks wonder, “Are we in a real estate bubble again?”

No.

Not yet. Here is the warning sign to look out for:

During the bubble that burst in 2006, everyone was buying real estate, but no one wanted to own it. People were just getting into the chain of title, or getting a contract on a home, so they could resell it for a big profit, sometimes literally overnight, without having to do anything at all to improve the property.

It was plain goofy and made no sense. A home isn’t worth $20,000 more just because it is a week older. Or even a month.

There are always some investors and flippers in the market. But during the heyday, everyone wanted to act like a big-time, sophisticated investor.

Today, most of the sales are to people who actually want to own the property, and that is a healthy sign for real estate.

All real estate is local. Talk to your favorite full-time licensed professional so you make the best decisions for your personal situation.

Home Search: Search for homes like an agent. This site offers three years sales history; original list price; most recent price reduction – date and amount (to help you get into the mind of the seller); maps; community information and much more at your fingertips. Must Have\ and \Like to Have\ options help you find your dream home fast! http://jimsweat.listingbook.com/